Arc the English, one wonders, reading N i .s Chase's
charming sketches (Collins, 8s. 6d.) really as English as all that ? Or, rather, is England so like the England of American novels, that tranquil, unchanging country where it is always tea-time ? But Miss Chase, who comes from New England, has seen and absorb- ed a great deal in her two years' stay, and probably knows England better than many English people do. She has explored the north, she has fallen in love with the west, and is acutely aware of the differences between county and county. She describes the beauty of English trees, and the slow-paced English spring, London's withdrawal from the world every Sunday, conver- sation in a 'bus in Somerset, the company in a third-class carriage, and the books they read. She is observant, she has a sense of humour, and being a novelist, can record atmosphere or personality with apparent ease. She writes with sympathy and affection ; even when she attacks the weather, the food, the tele- phone-service, English ignorance of America (though surely the man who thought " Chesapeake " was a State is exceptional), English lack of hygiene, and their dilatory ways one feels that she would be disappointed to return and find improvement. It is a pleasant, light, and readable book. One wishes there were a chapter on Cambridge, where she was engaged in research.
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